


Scarlet Begonias

by godscantsleep



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/F, Flowers, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, heavy classism, not flowershop au, you'll see - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-17
Packaged: 2018-10-18 05:08:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10609896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/godscantsleep/pseuds/godscantsleep
Summary: The word soulmate always seems cheaply used in movies. But you never thought that it would feel so light and warm in your chest.





	1. Europeana flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Okay don't be angry with me, just read the end notes when you're done.

It was a strange feeling when it first happened, you're glad that it doesn't happen too often. It is very surreal,watching stems push through your skin and bloom such a bright red color. The first time it happened was when you were younger, you suppose it was from a simple scrape but you were with your cousin Rose Aunt Roxy . A petit bud bloomed on your knee, honestly you were terrified but your Aunt picked you up and explained;

“Clam down sweet boy, it's just your soul mate.” She smiled, sitting you in her lap and wiping your cheek free of dirt. “ You see, some people have a special someone and whenever they get hurt their partner has beautiful flowers bloom where the wound would be. But not everyone gets these flowers but thats okay, it just means they never had a need for one.” She explained.

At first you were scared about the whole ordeal but it just became apart of life, little scraps here and there, papercuts and picking at scabs. You didn’t have to worry too much about them but you remember once they got their wisdom teeth removed, your mouth felt gross and you kept spitting red petals for a good two weeks. 

You can’t imagine what kind of turmoil you’ve put them through tough, training with Bro on the roof had always ended in some sort of bloodshed. The guilt of putting them through that kind of terror lies heavy on you shoulders as you patch yourself up. You imagine whoever they are in the bathroom, shaking and clipping whatever flowers you gave them from their chest. 

It's been years since you’ve suffered such a wound, you quickly moved out of the apartment once you were able. Moving in with Aunt Roxy and your cousin. They've always been there for you, you honestly don't know if you could have survived awhile longer living with him. But now you have a stable job, you're moving out of Roxy’s in a couple months you're even thinking about going to college, things are doing pretty alright. 

‘What if they're allergic to pollen?’ You often ask yourself at four in the morning,’what if I’ve given them poisonous flowers?’ You think during work, itching the Europeana flower that erupted from a bug bite this morning. You don’t feel like cutting it off,its small anyways. Little wounds never produce big flowers, only deep ones do that. You’ve done extensive research on the flower, in what regain it blooms, it’s genus, family. Ask any question about the thing and you'll know it. 

You remember when Rose met her soul mate, she told you all about it in a frantic hype just about a year ago. She was in philosophy class, reading because she had already finished the paper. She had gotten a papercut. She looked for a band-aid in her bag. “Excuse me.” She heard a soft voice say, she looked up and a hand with Clematis flowers blooming from her fingertips and offering a band-aid. She and Kanaya have been together ever since. 

You fear that you and your ‘soul mate’ won’t be able to hit it as just as well as Rose and Kanaya did. What if when you meet them they are so horrified that you're physically able to walk around they don’t talk to you and your doomed to live the rest of your life alone?


	2. Scarlet Begonias

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 4/13 ;)  
>  (Edit) Grateful Dead - Scarlet Begonias https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrIRE8Hzl7c

It feels like there is a huge weight on my chest, pushing me down into the mattress, it creaks under the mass. I gasp for the air that is forced from my lungs, I thrash my arms in an attempt to get the attention of someone, anyone. 

I peak down to my chest, laying upon it is a Europeana bush. It comes from a gash in my chest, the roses tear through my shirt and their stickers prick my skin. The bush pools around my bed and petals stack up on the floor.

Suddenly, the bush surges up. The branches grow quickly and the flowers bloom rapidly, they hit the ceiling and bump against the wall, they scratch my posters and knock over specimen jars. They crash on the carpet with a boom but the Europeana bush doesn’t stop, it pushes against the window beside my bed before it gives way and shards of glass scatter. They spill on the bed and pierce my left arm.

It stops and I can breath, I gasp in a sweet smelling breath. Red falls onto my face, petals. Rapidly falling and pooling around my body. I peak at the ends of the enormous bush, they wilt and droop heavily under the weight of dying roses. 

The grey of the bush rushes down to the roots in my chest. I reach out and touch the root gently, it disintigrates under the touch and its ashes stain the bed. The rest soon follows, branches falling over and all that it leaves are its ruins. I frantically pick up the ashes, cradling them in my arms. It stings in my wounds.

“No… no no no!” The dust leaves marks on my arms. “I can’t lose them now.. I don’t even know who they are yet! Thats… Thats not fair!” I yell into my vacant room, my cheeks are hot and damp. My voice cracks; “It’s not fai-”

-

I’m in bed, sitting up. But the bed isn’t covered in ashes or dead petals, the window isn’t broken and my jars are intact. I paw at my chest, no roses but I am panting heavily and my untorn shirt is soaked with sweat. 

“ You okay hon?” I whip my head around, Aunt Roxy is standing at the door holding a piece of paper, probably for her and Rose’s obscure notes to one another on the fridge. 

“ Yeah, uh bad dream...yeah.” I wipe my hands on the sheets and slide out from the bed.

“Alright kiddo, well don’t forget. You gotta go down into town and look at that vacant apartment before its sold to someone else.” 

“Mkay, thanks Aunt Rox.” I scratch the side of my head and fumble over to the nightstand to retrieve my glasses. 

She smiles with her neatly painted lips. “Don’t sweat it.” She chuckles. “Now go take a shower, it smells like a highschool boy’s dirty gym locker in here.” She departs, I can hear her heels click down the spiral staircase. 

“Just a dream.” I exhale heavily, tossing the shirt in a hamper. “Just a bad dream.” I enter the bathroom and turn on the showerhead. 

 

-

The complex is rickety and worn. The bricks are badly chipped and the front door has a crack spider webbing down the right door. Inside the lobby the potted palm tree is flat out dead and the desk clerk is loudly popping her gum. I approach her.

“Uhm, I’m here to look at the empty room?” I say, trying my best to look stoic. She says nothing for a moment, flipping through another page of vogue magazine before reaching under the desk and pulling out a key.

“Room 204, don’t even try and steal the key.”She says, smacking her gum and not bothering to tear her eyes from the pages. 

“Thanks…” I drawl, spinning the key with my index finger. I turn to the elevator, I press the up arrow and wait. 

The bell of the front door chimes and someone enters the lobby, they step next to me. I resist the urge to look at them, bad impressions. The elevator dings and opens, we enter and they press the second floor button before I can. Oh maybe they could be my new neighbor, it's a troll. Trolls are not uncommon, they had been integrated into earth’s society hundreds of years ago. 

He's short, like really short. Probably standing at 5’3, he is plump and kind of adorable. He has the shortest horns that I have ever seen, they are almost completely hidden by his overly curly hair. He pays no attention to me, he has his nose shoved in a thick novel. 

I lean back onto the wooden railing, planting my hands on either side of me. Bad idea, my thumb is pricked by the splintering wood. I suck in air through my teeth.

“Yeah you don’t want to do that, hope you got your tetanus shot.” The troll says, flipping the page. A bead of blood emerges from the splinter. I look at him, he pays no attention until a small Begonia flower blooms from his thumb. He stops, looking at his thumb. He feels my stare and he looks at me, then my thumb and back to his own.

“Holy..” I start, the elevator dings and opens to to second floor. He drops his book, the thud echoes through the hallway. The Begonia curls around his thumb, he stumbles back and into the hallway. He almost trips over himself before escaping to his room, apartment number 205. 

“Wait, wait!” I call after him, he slams the door behind him. “ I don’t even know your name.” I look at his discarded book. A trashy romance novel, huh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I worked like all night on this so I don't know how frequent updates will be.


	3. Sugar Magnolias

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gratful Dead - Sugar Magnolia https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkKuhAxcH7g

“It was him, I’m sure of it Rose.” I say, sitting at the kitchen table as she uses tweezers to pull the wood from my finger. The novel is in my other hand, heavy not only with its pages but with curiosity. With a tight pinch the wood is removed. “I don’t even know what his name is.” I wince. She finishes, placing a hello kitty bandaid on my thumb.

“Have you checked the inside cover?” She says, tossing away the wrappers.

“Pssh, y-yeah.” I open the paper cover, inside is written ‘Karkat Vantas’ in pencil, it is easy to tell that the pencil broke multiple times while he wrote. Rose peaks over my shoulder.

“Hmm, oh! I know him.” She returns her attention to the fist aid box, neatly returning the tweezers and such.

“Wait, you do?” I look at her, a shot of electricity ricochets down my spine. 

“Well Kanaya does, they are close friends actually.” The first aid kit clicks shut and she places the white box back in the cabinet. 

“Could you have her talk to him for me?” I lean against the table, the book to my chest.

“And have her tell him what? ‘Hey, remember when you apparently met your soulmate in a dirty elevator? Well he wants to take you out friday night! 8pm sound good?’” She smiles, sitting against the white marble counter. 

“Well, what am I supposed to do then?” I ask frantically, picking at the scrap paper bookmark. She pushes herself off the counter and begins to walk into the dining room. 

“I’ll help you pack.” She says, brushing my shoulder as she passes.

-

 

“Well I like it!”John says, sitting atop a moving box. He kicks his legs like a 3 year-old and looks at the cracks in the paint on the ceiling. 

“Yeah, if ya like living in a place people only go when they are divorced by their wife. She took custody of the kids, all three of em. What about the family dog, Checkers? Who knows. I am not prepared for these responsibilities, John. My kids’ll grow up without a daddy. But what about Checkers, John what will happen to Checkers?” I shoo him off the box, my stereo is in there. Took me two months to save money and get these. 

“Shut up Dave!” He snorts. “Doesn’t your soul mate live across the hall anyways?” He opens up the box with silverware inside, Aunt Roxy gave these along with pots and dishes to me as a goodbye gift this morning. 

“Yeah, say it a little louder so he can hear it please.” I glance at the book on the coffee table, John notices.

“You gonna give it back to him?” He puts a fork in the kitchen drawer. 

“I don’t know man, maybe I’ll just slide it through the mail slot?” I pick up the plates and stack them in the cabinet. 

“Don’t think he has one of those… Maybe put it in his mail box downstairs?” 

“Need a key for that.” The cups join the cupboard. 

“So just knock on his door.” 

“It's not that easy, John.” 

“Well why can’t it be, Dave?” He mocks, smiling as he shuts the drawer and looks at me.

“Because… Ah…” I scratch my neck and lean my back against the counter. I sigh. “It’ll scare the shit out of him.”

“How do you say?”

“You’ve seen the shit _he _used to put me through. Means that the same thing happened to him.” I gesture to the door, he's probably across the hall right now. My soulmate, my future. That's a heavy cross to bear, knowing that my fate is now intertwined with someone in a room not twenty feet away.__

____

____

“Oh, I’m sure he'll understand. Isn’t that what a soulmate is for?” 

“Gah, you sound like a romance movie.” I stick my tongue out and leave the kitchen. 

“Oh come on, there's nothing to it!” John exclaims, following you and in the process picking up Karkat’s book. “Just go knock on his door and give it to him, it’s been like a month since you took it. He is probably itching to finish it, Rose told me about this volume.” He flips through the book in his hands. “You won’t believe what happens to the protagonist.” 

I snatch the book back, cradling it in my hands. “I didn’t take it! He dropped it.” John pushes the book to my chest.

“Then go give it back to him.” He urges. “Fate doesn’t present itself on a silver platter like this, Dave!” He opens the front door, room 205 presents itself on the other side of the poorly lit hallway.

 

“Should I...change my shirt or something? Or…” I sputter. John smiles, he goofy teeth poking out.

“Just go!” And he pushes me out the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its gonna be a busy weekend for be but I might, might have chapter four up on monday.


	4. It Must Have Been the Roses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so If you didn't notice I am a total dead head and have been making my chapter titles Greatful dead songs so Im gonna put a link to each song in the notes. I really do urge you to listen because they are _good _songs.__  
>  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jAUqnAmegU

My chest feels heavy, like my ribcage has turned to lead. He's behind this door, I can hear a tv playing quietly. John is peaking out from behind my door anxiously, waiting for me to man up and knock.

I take a deep breath and raise my fist, the novel is in my other clammy hand. I rasp my knuckle on the door frame, after a moment I consider knocking a little louder until it cracks open. I can see his gray cheeks and curled hair, a scoff emits from the other side and he opens it the rest of the way. His crimson eyes burn a hole in my skull and his hand is gripping the door frame. 

“What are _you _doing here?” He scowls, his hair is more out of place then when we first met. I then notice that he is wearing pajama pants that he has to tie to keep them up and a torn t-shirt. Shit I probably woke him up, great. Good luck having him fall for me. “Well?” He snaps and I stand idle.__

__“I..I uh yes! well-” I blabber._ _

__“You moved in didn’t you.” He glares behind me to egbert who waves meekly then ducks back into my kitchen. Karkat’s eyes flick back to me. “So you are telling me that you moved in just to fucking talk to me? And today of all days, it is my only day off! What, you here to sweep me off my feet and we'll ride off into the sunset? Huh loverboy?” He is inches from my face, on his toes to reach my face but I can smell his morning breath and it's enough to make me recoil._ _

__I offer the book without saying a word. He looks at it and lens back on his socked feet, rubbing the bridge of his nose._ _

__“Can we just not do this today?” He offers, looking at me with a tired look, sagging his shoulders._ _

__“Huh?” I clutch the novel with both hands, fearing the worst. He gently picks up the novel from my grasp and looks at it._ _

__“ Look, I’m all for the ‘meeting my one true love and living happily ever after’ deal.” He looks at me with tired eyes. “But I work 6 days a week and get zero sleep, Saturday is the day where I sleep and binge tv while nobody bothers me or I rip out their throat with my teeth. So I am not on my A game here, tell you what.” He disappears behind his door, I lean in and peek inside._ _

__Animal planet is playing on the television and off brand cheese curls are in a bowl, they are slightly spilled on the soft blanket on the couch. There are Ikea bookshelves reaching up to the ceiling, filled with similar trashy books and picture frames with people. You recognize Kanaya In one of them, she has one arm around Karkat’s shoulder. His kitchen is neat and clean, much like the rest of his apartment. I hear his footsteps stomping back into the main room._ _

__He returns to the doorway and gestures to me and I open my palms. He plants a pair of gardening pruners in my hands. I look back up to him through my glasses. “As a bargaining chip. For the next time you want to whoo me.” He doesn’t exactly smile at me but he gives me a knowing look. He offers his hand._ _

__“My name is Karkat Vantas, but you probably know that from snooping through my book.” He says, I straighten my posture and switch the shears into my left hand. I wipe my sweaty palm on my jeans and take his hand._ _

__“David Strider.” I say, regaining my stature and letting his hand go. “Dave is fine though and I didn’t snoop.” I smile._ _

__“Yeah,right. Well I have some Big Cat Diaries to watch so goodbye Dave.” He closes the door before I could reply, I can hear him flop on the couch with a grunt and began to munch on a cheese curl._ _

__“Haha! You did it!” John latches onto my shoulder, laughing. “You better make me your best man or we are going to have problems.” I smile as he leads me back into the apartment as I tuck the pruners in my back pocket._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the short chapter, i have no excuse

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I was looking through the stories that I never finished in my drive and found this one. If I get enough Kudos I might continue it. If you have any questions or suggestions you can ask me @ http://godscantsleep.tumblr.com/


End file.
